Tag: Reforming

Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies presents an innovative nickel catalyst for secondary reformers that lowers catalyst refill costs, aids reliability and reduces environmental impact.

In this study Kinetics Process Improvements (KPI) demonstrates that controlled ethane co-feeding combined with intermediate methanol condensation in the synthesis loop provides a practical, low capital, low-risk revamp strategy to increase ATR methanol plant capacity by approximately 5% while remaining fully within existing equipment, metallurgical, and compression limits.

Spain’s Methanol Reformer has signed a sales and purchase agreement with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. (MGC) for the supply of an L18 methanol reformer compliant with Japanese industry requirements. The system will be delivered and installed at MGC’s Niigata plant, with commissioning planned for the second half of 2026. Methanol Reformer says that this, their first industrial project in Japan, reinforces the company’s presence in the Asian market, while for MGC, the collaboration supports the adoption of innovative hydrogen-generation solutions designed to enhance operational applicability and efficiency with reliability.

The convection section of a syngas reformer is vulnerable to creep, corrosion, erosion, fretting and fouling which can cause deformation, local metal loss and failures that risk plant shutdown. Inspection access is limited, but solutions are available. Quest Integrity discusses life management of the reformer convection section to reduce unplanned outages.

KPI evaluates deep decarbonisation pathways for a new build ammonia plant of 3,500 t/d on the US Gulf Coast. Eight technology configurations are compared with results providing a framework for technology selection, balancing emissions reduction, process integration, and indicative economics.

Global demand for methanol is set to increase fivefold by 2050, driven by decarbonisation in shipping and other hard-to-abate sectors. Air Products Membrane Solutions discusses how membrane technology offers a proven, scalable solution to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and enable compliance across both traditional and low-carbon methanol pathways.

Casale is specialised in revamping natural gas-based methanol plants. Decarbonisation of methanol plants is a goal for many producers achievable with a proper revamping strategy. Pietro Moreo of Casale discusses how Casale’s innovative technologies and extensive experience ensure reliable efficient capacity and performance enhancements together with CO2 emissions reduction tailored to meet revamping project targets.

This article describes an unusual tube failure incident which resulted in fire escaping the furnace box during normal operation of a hydrogen plant. Ken Wohlgeschaffen of Chevron Products Company shares the sequence of events leading up to the incident, the extent of damage caused by the incident, and most importantly the causes and lessons learned from this incident to prevent recurrence.

NextChem compares KPIs and overall costs to evaluate the performance of several low carbon (blue) hydrogen production technologies. A detailed comparison of SCT-CPO, SMR and ATR technologies is reported.

Muhammad Faisal Faraz and Abdullah Al Balushi of OQBi explain how by implementing a series of technical and process improvements, OQBi has successfully extended the lifespan of its reformer tubes by six years beyond the original design life of 100,000 hours.